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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24536143">Obstacles</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Francesca_SpringRain/pseuds/Francesca_SpringRain'>Francesca_SpringRain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:27:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,653</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24536143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Francesca_SpringRain/pseuds/Francesca_SpringRain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"Whatever happens you can't fall in love with me"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. #01 - Kalm's Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>English is not my native language, so please, be tolerant.<br/>If you liked the fanfiction, please leave a message.<br/>Thank you for reading.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>#01 - Kalm's Night </h1><p>Kalm was a small town in the east.<br/>
They had taken refuge there after their escape to shelter from the incessant rain that had accompanied them since the gates of Midgar.<br/>
There was nothing special in that place, but the inn was clean and welcoming, so they decided to spend the night there.</p><p>Cloud got rid of the armor, after leaning his sword against the wall, took off his gloves and then sat on the bed, exhausted.<br/>
Only a couple of days had passed since their escape from Midgar and he felt confused. He also thought that he still hadn't had a chance to talk to Aerith about what had happened.<br/>
"I'll think about it later" he said to himself as he went down the stairs, then joined the others to decide the next moves.</p><p>The meeting was short enough. They made the decision to follow Sephiroth to prevent him from carrying out his plans. They would go to Junon and from there they would embark for the west continent.<br/>
He stopped for a moment at the corridor window and looked out, lost in his thoughts.<br/>
The future that the battle had shown them it was still confusing him.<br/>
Those scenes, too similar to the visions that occasionally throbbed in his temples had caused him agitation.<br/>
He touched the glass, lowering his eyes.</p><p>Two hands folded in prayer<br/>
A white Materia that falls, rolling<br/>
That braid, so familiar<br/>
The threatening Meteor in the sky above Midgar, and more…<br/>
That white forest, and the feeling of holding that abandoned body in his hands.<br/>
The tingling fingers<br/>
The eyes that burn<br/>
The arid throat<br/>
A tear.<br/>
The sound of a heart breaking.</p><p> </p><p>He raised his hand to his temple, focusing his reflection on the glass, and twisted his mouth.<br/>
Sephiroth's words echoed in his ears.</p><p>"What which lies ahead does not yet exist...<br/>
Cloud, lend me your strength. Let us defy destiny… together.<br/>
Seven seconds ‘till the end.<br/>
Time enough for you, perhaps.<br/>
But what will you do with it? Let’s see."</p><p>He narrowed his eyes, contrasting within himself that voice that caressed him, hitting him every time like a punch in the stomach, while his temple throbbed.</p><p>"Heya, Mr. Bodyguard!"<br/>
Aerith's voice behind him startled him.<br/>
"Heya" he replied, making her the verse.<br/>
"Wouldn't you like to take me for a walk?"<br/>
She smiled taking his arm.<br/>
He would never get used to her cheerful character and her confidential ways.<br/>
He smiled slightly, lowering his eyes.<br/>
"Is that ...why I pay you?" He told her.<br/>
"Cloud! Don't steal my line! "<br/>
As usual, she had bent to look at him, and he blushed, eluding her gaze.<br/>
Was it a game?<br/>
It was certainly an attitude that had baffled him at first, but over time he had begun to find it amusing.<br/>
He was always the one who was ultimately ashamed. And he just couldn't look her in the eyes.<br/>
Not after that night.</p><p>"Whatever happens you can't fall in love with me"</p><p> </p><p>Those words had arrived suddenly and definitively, without having given him time to reflect. But at the same time they had made him realize how much he really cared about her. Above all his answer, escaped from the lips without thinking: "Do I get a say in all of this?”<br/>
God, it had all happened too fast. He had felt those feelings growing inside him, also fueled by his sense of responsibility, and he had really done everything to get her out of the Shinra Building. </p><p>"So, Cloud?"<br/>
He turned to those green eyes that peered at him and sighed.<br/>
"Ok, but it will cost you!"<br/>
"Done deal!" she exulted "Then I'll wait for you below!" </p><p>He was stunned for a moment, then his lips curled into a tiny smile.<br/>
It was the chance he had been waiting for.<br/>
He felt the need to talk to her to have explained several things, starting from the night she had appeared to him in the garden. </p><p>"... and so I asked Tseng to save as many people as possible, both those in Sector 7 and those who were on the pillar."<br/>
"Hopefully Biggs and Jessie survived."<br/>
He watched the moon peek out into the clouds, brightening the sky, and sighed.<br/>
"Meanwhile… I was there on top playing with Reno and Rude."<br/>
She laughed.<br/>
"Those two are terrible when together!"<br/>
"Not really."<br/>
"Mhh ... remind me to scold them when I’ll meet them again!"<br/>
"Then we went to Elmyra to find Marlene and do a help in Sector 7 ..."<br/>
" Tifa already told me about this part. My mom is a tough nut, isn't it? "<br/>
She turned to him, her hands behind her back.<br/>
"Yup. I tried to convince her but she want to hear no reasons. "<br/>
"MPF! Typical of her! "<br/>
"But I made my decision the night she hosted us ..." </p><p>Aerith looked at him and narrowed her eyes, smiling.<br/>
"That night, huh?"<br/>
"Y...yeah. The one where I met you in the garden. "<br/>
"I see..." she stopped and imitated him by crossing her arms.<br/>
"You wouldn't say so, but you're also quite stubborn."<br/>
"So it seems" he answered without looking at her.<br/>
"So..."  Aerith turned back to the street and slowly started walking again "...did you think about what I told you?"<br/>
"Yup. Above all, I thought about the fact that in the most important moments you run away. "<br/>
He stopped, wishing to take back his last words, with his head down and the heartbeats that deafened him.<br/>
"Oh! Would you have liked more explanations? " she chuckled, avoiding to look at him.<br/>
“If you haven't given it to me, I obviously have to accept it. But at least I could have had my say, don't you think? "<br/>
Aerith stopped, thinking back to his words from that night: "I’m coming for you."<br/>
Her hands tightened on her chest, seeing Cloud's expression in her eyes.<br/>
"I guess... there’s no need." she replied without looking at him. “You’ve already done so much for me, and this is worth a thousand words. Thank you, Cloud. "<br/>
"It's nothing" he replied staring at his feet as she started walking through the puddles.</p><p>He felt his heart throbbing in his throat and his fingers moved like that night.<br/>
What would have happened if he grabbed her wrist?<br/>
He pursed his lips imagining the scene, then shook his head.<br/>
"Hey! Don't get left behind! " her voice distracted him, and he followed her.<br/>
"Didn't they do something strange to you at Shinra?" he asked, reaching for her.<br/>
"Since I was there voluntarily not. " she smiled. "Thanks for worrying."<br/>
Again. Again she was building walls between them.<br/>
Of all the explanations he wanted to ask her, there was nothing left for him, Aerith had broken any hold.<br/>
"So... the reason for this walk?"<br/>
"I wanted to breathe the smell of rain." she replied, looking at the sky and sniffing the air.<br/>
As usual, she would have preferred to lie rather than face the speeches.<br/>
She certainly would never have admitted that she was there to spend time with him.<br/>
After all, he thought, it was coherent.<br/>
Who could not stop his crazy feelings was him.<br/>
Walking on that cobblestone, in the fresh air of the night, under the light of the street lamps, he had deluded himself that Aerith had changed her mind, and had forgotten everything else, everything he wanted to ask her.<br/>
He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the events of a few days earlier, in which they had faced the Whispers and Sephiroth.<br/>
Aerith seemed to know much more than she hinted.<br/>
But at that moment he didn't care. All he wanted was to watch her laugh and flirt with her as in the early days, as if everything that happened after that had never existed.<br/>
"Patience" he thought "let's move on to B plane."<br/>
"Hey ..." he called. "Don't you have to tell me anything?"<br/>
Stupidly he thought the attack was the best strategy.</p><p>She came over, looked at him with her usual smile that had the power to panic him, and took his hand.<br/>
It was the first time he had touched her hands without gloves and felt the warmth rise to his face.<br/>
He looked up. He didn't expect such a reaction... or maybe it was what he wanted, but he didn't think could happen.<br/>
He stretched his lips, staring at hers with downcast eyes and felt his heart tumble.<br/>
"Do you want to do it with me?"<br/>
He winced. His irises opened wide at those words and he felt his bowels tangle. He opened his mouth but could not make a sound.<br/>
"Cloud?"<br/>
She looked at him, waiting for an answer.<br/>
"Y… you serious?"<br/>
He had gathered all his breath, and had managed to say only those two miserable words.<br/>
He felt her let go of his hand snorting "...boring." </p><p>He would have liked to hear her say those words that resonated within him since she was gone, shout what he had inside his heart, maybe hold her.<br/>
He wouldn't have dared much more.<br/>
Instead, he found himself there, with his hand in mid-air, totally displaced, speechless and with his mouth open, while the first drops of a new downpour began to fall on him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. #02 - Disappointment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1># 02 - Disappointment </h1><p>She watched him get drenched in rain.<br/>
She had managed to surprise him. It was what she wanted.<br/>
Whatever way he replied, she would find a way to displace him.<br/>
What she hadn't expected was that it hurt so much.<br/>
Most of all she suffered in seeing the disappointment in his eyes.<br/>
She pursed her lips. Yes, that was what she wanted, she told herself.<br/>
She took him by the arm, pulling him, trying not to listen to what was in her heart.<br/>
"Let's go back before we get drenched completely."<br/>
"Hey! Wai...! " she heard him protest as she dragged him.<br/>
"What's up?"<br/>
"Do you always do this?"<br/>
She felt him free himself from her grasp and take her wrist, and was forced to turn to him.<br/>
"Um ... sometimes!" she replied "But only with the boys I like."<br/>
She smiled at him, in the most mischievous way possible, placing a hand on his chest, then closed her eyes, turning around.<br/>
"Then? Your answer?"<br/>
"I'm sorry, I…"<br/>
"Time out!" she trilled "Now let's hurry!" </p><p>In a moment they were at the inn, in a pouring rain.<br/>
The clothes were soaked. She pulled up the hem of her dripping skirt, exposing her legs to the knees.<br/>
She didn't have the courage to raise her head, but she had to do it. And watched him.<br/>
He was silent, with his eyes downcast, turned towards her without looking at her. His soaked hair was in his face and his lips were tight.<br/>
With one hand she brushed the locks from his eyes.<br/>
No reactions.<br/>
"You should dry yourself, Cloud, or you will take a cold!" she said, unconvinced.<br/>
She would have liked to take care of him, maybe blow dry his hair herself. But that little sentence was the best, she told herself.<br/>
They went up the stairs in silence.<br/>
She felt his eyes behind her. It was as if they were looking through her. </p><p>She knew that look.<br/>
She had always been alone, even as a child. No friends, no affection except for Elmyra, the woman who had been taking care of her for 15 years.<br/>
She took a deep breath, looking for the key in her breast pocket.<br/>
She heard the clink of keys between Cloud's fingers.<br/>
He had the room next door.<br/>
She smiled at him and placed a very light kiss on his wet cheek, then closed the door behind her.<br/>
"It’s okay.." she thought, as she let herself slide on the ground with her hands over her mouth and eyes full of tears.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. #03 - Tears</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1># 03 - Tears </h1>
<p>He had stood at the door, with the key in his hand.<br/>
He looked at the puddle that was spreading on the carpet under his feet, unable even to put the key in the lock.<br/>
He twisted his mouth, moreover his life had always been this way.<br/>
Should he have accepted?<br/>
It wasn't the kind of night he had in mind, and he wouldn't have known how to move.<br/>
But what was worse was that he had a completely wrong idea.<br/>
He snorted, thinking that he would continue to be the usual clumsy ever.<br/>
Many years earlier, as then, he had not shone in front of Tifa, his first crush maybe, and he had wanted to become someone else.<br/>
It was not indecision, he think, perhaps shyness, lack of self-confidence.<br/>
He couldn't understand what had gone wrong in that whole story. </p>
<p>He went into the bathroom, got rid of his clothes and opened the hot water in the shower.<br/>
He felt disappointed, yes.<br/>
But there was something else... something that eluded him but he didn't want to think about.<br/>
He wrapped himself in the towel, leaning against the wall, and sighed. </p>
<p>He wore emergency clothes, a sleeveless T-shirt and a pair of camouflage pants.<br/>
He opened the door to the small terrace and inhaled.<br/>
The storm was getting worse and a bad wind had risen.<br/>
His gaze wandered through the clouds, searching in vain for the moonlight. <br/>
Silly.<br/>
He thought that she could understand him more than anyone else, that she would embrace his heart and be able to fill that sense of emptiness.<br/>
He was wrong.<br/>
He leaned on the balustrade, letting the thought get lost in the middle of the storm.<br/>
In the end what she said to him that night made sense.<br/>
He turned to her half-open window. It was illuminated.<br/>
He wondered what it would have been like to have her in his arms at the time.<br/>
Perhaps, in order not to give up those feelings he held in his heart, he could also have given her a whim.<br/>
He leaned into the corner and closed his eyes. </p>
<p>A sound crept into him, a sound that had nothing to do with that storm.<br/>
A sigh.<br/>
Was Aerith crying?<br/>
Impossible, he thought, since she had been the one to decide how to play her cards.<br/>
He pricked up his ears.<br/>
Yet it sounded like her voice.<br/>
It was a low cry, it seemed almost suffocated.<br/>
He could not be wrong.<br/>
He sighed.<br/>
In spite of everything he could not help but worry about her. </p>
<p>He stared at the locked door.<br/>
What if he was wrong? Would he invent an excuse just to see her?<br/>
He felt stupid.<br/>
He actually wanted to see her.<br/>
He closed his eyes and knocked.<br/>
"Aerith?"<br/>
Her voice answered softly.<br/>
"Cloud?"<br/>
He watched the door narrow and her eyes appear from the crack.<br/>
"Is everything all right? It seemed to me…"<br/>
"Yes" she interrupted. "Don't worry."<br/>
He raised his hand and touched her cheek.<br/>
"Lier."<br/>
Aerith looked burned and stepped back.<br/>
Then she looked at him and lowered her eyes.<br/>
"Come in."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. #04 - Lier</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1># 04 - Lier</h1>
<p>It was a misstep, she knew, but she couldn't help with.<br/>
She watched at him.<br/>
He stared at her with his arms crossed.<br/>
Her Cloud...<br/>
"I…"<br/>
"You don’t want to explain to me?"<br/>
His gaze was hard. She felt her chest tighten.<br/>
"What am I supposed to explain to you?" she replied, continuing to play her part. "I don't owe you an explanation, correct me if I'm wrong."<br/>
"You may be right. I don't even know why I'm here. "<br/>
"You see? I'm right. C’mon! Go back to sleep! "<br/>
"You were crying."<br/>
"No, I’m not…”<br/>
"Stop with this bullshit."<br/>
She lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze.<br/>
Everything had gone smoothly so far, yet...<br/>
She knew it. She knew that Cloud wouldn't believe her, despite being used to that kind of behavior.<br/>
"I thought I was clear, didn't I?"<br/>
"What are you referring to?"<br/>
"That time I told you clearly not to fall in love with me."</p><p>She saw him approach. She avoided looking him in the face, but there was nothing she could do about it.<br/>
"At least try to be credible" he hissed taking her wrist. "How can I believe you if you tell me while crying?"<br/>
She looked up at him, running her hand over her cheek, surprised herself.<br/>
"No I’m…!"<br/>
He took her other wrist too.<br/>
"Look at me!"<br/>
She thought of Cloud's character.<br/>
He was usually shy and liked to joke, then blushed with any move taken to excess. At that moment, however, she looked up to the other Cloud. In front of her was the warrior, the one who, despite the terror inside his heart, could withstand Sephiroth's gaze. He was furious, she felt it.<br/>
"Why?"<br/>
"Let go of my wrist, Cloud."<br/>
"Explain me! I have at least this right. "<br/>
She looked him in the eyes, and felt her heart waver.<br/>
His gaze was direct, clear.<br/>
Every time she was reflected in his eyes her chest tightened.<br/>
"Right."</p><p>"Would you like something to drink?"<br/>
She felt his gaze on her, feeling trapped.<br/>
"Something strong" he answered simply.<br/>
She poured him some whiskey found in the bar corner and looked at him.<br/>
She didn't know where to start.<br/>
She should have laid bare her heart. Would she do it?<br/>
She swallowed handing him the glass and touching his fingers.<br/>
"There’s something I have to do. I told you about that day, among the flowers... "<br/>
He looked at her, narrowing his eyelids.<br/>
"To... talk to the flowers, right?"<br/>
She smiled.<br/>
"It’s not so simple ... The planet is screaming, Cloud. I hear its cry from the day I was born. "<br/>
"Yup. That's what you told us at Shinra. "<br/>
She was surprised, but she expected nothing less from Cloud.<br/>
She realized she was shaking.<br/>
"There’s... a threat. A big threat is rising on the planet. "<br/>
The words struggled to come out.<br/>
“Yeah… You mean Sephiroth.”<br/>
She had prayed that she would never have to explain it to him. Besides, she hadn't deluded herself that those few almost whispered words would have been enough for him.<br/>
"It's my job. I have to protect it... "<br/>
She turned away. She never wanted to watch his reaction.<br/>
"So I'm not allowed to think about anything else."<br/>
She squeezed the fabric of the sunset-colored suit in her hands, watching her other clothes dripping from the door.<br/>
"Anything... else?"<br/>
She heard Cloud's voice behind her.<br/>
"Anything else. Not now. Not anymore. There’s no more time. "<br/>
"Look at me."<br/>
"Please Cloud. Let what we have had is enough for you. "<br/>
"Look at me, damn!"<br/>
"I can’t."<br/>
"You can’t? What you don’t want me to see? I understand myself that you’re crying. I am not stupid, nor deaf. So, look me in the face! What does it mean that there’s no more time? " He was shouting.<br/>
She turned, trying to look him in the eyes.<br/>
“Just what I said. I won't be able to stay with you for long. Please don't come any closer. "<br/>
She must being selfish. She had to think only of herself. She had looked ahead, in the future, and understood.<br/>
Together with fate, pain had enveloped her like a blanket.<br/>
Her pain, Elmyra’s, and Cloud’s, so far, in that future awaiting for them all.<br/>
"What does it mean?"<br/>
His eyes shone, in contrast to the dark eyelashes and gold-colored hair, that fell disheveled on the sides of his face.<br/>
She had never seen him like that and for a moment she wanted to throw her arms around his neck.<br/>
“I’ve… always turned everyone away. Since I was a child I have always been alone. I never wanted ties. Since my mother died she has continued to whisper to me from the Lifestream about the purpose of my existence. Promised Land. It looks like something wonderful, doesn't it? "<br/>
He looked at her without speaking, blinking from time to time, and biting his lips, but he hadn't lowered his eyes for even a moment.<br/>
"Cetra’s... Promised Land?"<br/>
"Yup. It’s a place that nobody knows, but... when you reach it you can feel it. You feel at home and understand that there’s where you belong. "<br/>
She heard him whispering "Promised Land" between his lips.<br/>
"That's where I have to go. To stem the catastrophe Sephiroth’s going to bring on all of us. "<br/>
“You mentioned it, I remember it. It’s a place where someone's soul arrives after death. "<br/>
She raised her hand, touched his cheek, then smiled.<br/>
"You understand it by yourself, don't you?"<br/>
"No! I do not understand!" He was shouting again.<br/>
“You don't accept it, it's different. Don't get involved. "<br/>
"It's late to tell me something like this now."<br/>
"Cloud... Stop!"<br/>
She watched him roll his eyes and clench his fists.<br/>
“You can't pretend to cut me off. It was late even then. Because I'm already in love with you, whether you like it or not. "<br/>
"It makes no sense."<br/>
She felt the tears burn her cheeks and turned to hide them.<br/>
In all this she had not considered Cloud's feelings at all. </p><p>She turned to him and saw the tears between his eyelashes.<br/>
“Feelings are obstacles. I can't listen to them."<br/>
"Then give up."<br/>
She looked at him and smiled.<br/>
"You said that I'm not the type."<br/>
She took his face in her hands.<br/>
"Cloud. For what are you fighting?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. #05 - Bond</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1># 05 - Bond </h1>
<p>He looked at her without being able to breathe.<br/>
His mind was unable to focus on his speech.<br/>
What was she saying?<br/>
Promised Land?<br/>
His thoughts had tangled like a skein and the more he tried to extricate himself the deeper he went.<br/>
"Cloud. For what are you fighting? "<br/>
He didn't know how to answer.<br/>
Sephiroth, right. But… the planet? That was someone else's battle. It always had been.<br/>
He looked up.<br/>
"For you" he managed to say, as a tear slid down his cheek.<br/>
He couldn't turn around, her hands held his face.<br/>
"To protect the planet you love."<br/>
Not for Barret, not for Biggs or Jessie, not even for Tifa.<br/>
It was for her.<br/>
He had only realized it at that moment.<br/>
His atavistic hatred towards Sephiroth had pushed him forward, but it was not his own battle, no more.<br/>
He fought Sephiroth because he hated him, but it wasn't no more hate that made him fight. He understood it all too well.<br/>
Their eyes were looking the same direction, it had been that way from the first moment they touched each other.<br/>
“It's the same for me too. And I can't let anything stand in my way. "<br/>
He took her hands, squeezing her wrists.<br/>
"It's not my feelings that stand in your way."<br/>
Aerith's eyes widened.<br/>
"If you hadn't told me, maybe I wouldn't have even realized it."<br/>
"Stop" she whispered in a low voice.<br/>
"There's yours! You thought that being a dream could have been fine, right? Just for a moment..."<br/>
"I'm not playing."<br/>
"Then tell me. And let's end this here. "<br/>
She looked at him, with her eyes still.<br/>
“I won't tell you anything. Now let me go!"<br/>
"I will go with you. Wherever you go. I promised."<br/>
"You're fired." </p><p>She did not look away when the tears prevented her from seeing the Mako in his eyes, nor when Cloud's lips pressed hard on hers.<br/>
She pushed him away, waving her elbows.<br/>
"What difference do you want it to make?" she hissed with downcast eyes. By now her cheerfulness was only a memory.<br/>
“Whether I love you or not, what could change? In any case, we will never be happy together. It makes no sense! And then... "she bit her lip.<br/>
"Then...?"<br/>
"I shouldn't have met you."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. #06 - The Earth and the Cloud</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1># 06 - The Earth and the Cloud </h1>
<p>Aerith wanted to hurt him.<br/>
He was thinking, sitting on the bed.<br/>
He stayed like that all night, hugging his knees, his eyes downcast.<br/>
He felt himself floating. All the happiness that drop by drop had been filling his heart since he had met her now were boiling and evaporating, without giving him even the slightest opportunity to grab it.<br/>
He wondered why.<br/>
It was she who had told him that they should treasure those moments.<br/>
And then... there was what he didn't want to look at.<br/>
That uncomfortable truth, that ominous omen that squeezed his heart like a lemon.<br/>
Yet he knew it.<br/>
Always.<br/>
From the first flash in his mind when he met her, from the sadness in her eyes when she smiled, from her coming and going without ever letting herself touched by no one, by those sometimes forced laughter...<br/>
That was why he had let himself be approached by her.<br/>
She was like him.<br/>
A single soul who asked only to be embraced. He had thought he could support her, but he would never have imagined her strength.<br/>
Yet he loved her. Despite all the words she had said to him, he couldn't have done anything but love her, even more. </p><p>In the morning he waited for her to open the door before leaving. He waited to hear her small luggage rustle and opened the door wide.<br/>
"I'll come, anyway" He told her. "...because we’re still looking in the same direction."<br/>
She dropped the bag and hugged him.<br/>
"I love you, Cloud."<br/>
He felt Aerith's hand grasp hers, twining his fingers.<br/>
“I was afraid to find out, but now I'm sure. Now I know where my Promised Land is... " She tightened her fingers around his. "Right here."<br/>
He pushed her for a moment longer into the room, closing the door behind them, then laced his hands with hers, pushing her against the door.<br/>
"I'll go with you, no matter what."<br/>
She raised her head.<br/>
"You know ... This way you will suffer a lot."<br/>
"But you ... you will be less afraid, won't you?"<br/>
He saw her lower her eyes, that sad smile that sometimes showed through her expressions. He lifted her face and touched her lips with her mouth, feeling her tears slipping on his cheek and her hands wrap around his neck. "Thank you, Cloud" she whispered on his lips, then pressed hers again against his.</p><p> </p><p>“And so... we’ve already reached this point.<br/>
I slipped out of the sheets very early, so that you wouldn't notice me.<br/>
It would have been too painful to look you in the eyes once again, and I wasn't sure I would be able to leave.<br/>
There are things that only I am able to do, just as there are things that only you can do.<br/>
The planet needs us, Cloud, and we must do our best.<br/>
I wanted to tell you that. Thanks to you I forgot the fear, and I kept smiling day after day.<br/>
If it's a promise you want, I don't know if I can make it without lying again.<br/>
What is certain is I will thank you in any way.<br/>
I see you, Cloud, between my half-closed lashes. You’re running, with despair in the eyes.<br/>
Be strong. Don't let events get the better of you.<br/>
The world needs you.<br/>
Be strong.<br/>
I’m praying for the future.<br/>
You have the sword in your hands. Keep on fighting without giving up, until the end.<br/>
In time, you will see, everything will disappear. Tears, pain, despair.<br/>
But my love will continue to surround you until the end of the days.<br/>
I can feel it. He’s coming.<br/>
Close your eyes. Get that expression off from your face.<br/>
You can be stronger than that.<br/>
It will only be a moment, Cloud, then life will begin to flow again in other ways, in other times.<br/>
You will find your smiles and bind your heart again.<br/>
Because every minute, every moment matters.<br/>
So you have to treasure every moment.<br/>
I’m glad I met you, Cloud, I really am.<br/>
I’m grateful to you for every word we’ve shared.<br/>
For all the moments and the memories.<br/>
You made me happier than you think.<br/>
And I will always cherish everything you gave me.<br/>
But whatever happens... please, go ahead!<br/>
I love you.<br/>
I will wait for you, until we can meet again.<br/>
In our Promised Land.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I conclude, pending the second part of the Remake. I expect anything, so that's all for now.<br/>Thanks for reading.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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